The EU has blocked British scientists from accessing the world’s biggest research programme in the latest Brexit row.
The UK’s associate membership of the €95bn (£81bn) Horizon Europe programme was foreseen in the 2020 Brexit agreement. However, the EU has been delaying the UK’s membership as a response to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's threat to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol, a vital part of the Brexit agreement that governs trade between the region and mainland Britain.
Last week, VP of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, said that the EU would respond “with all measures at its disposal” if the UK goes ahead with a bill to disapply elements of the protocol. An official letter seen by Politico stated the EU's intention to use the Horizon programme as a way of pressing the British government.
João Vale de Almeida, EU ambassador to the UK, lamented that British scientists would become “collateral damage” in the dispute with the country...